Trip Advisor tricked me out of £840!

[HeckyWithTheGoodBear]

Made a booking to go on holiday yesterday, then changed it to a few weeks time to fit in with uni dates.

Specifically did it with tripadvisor/ booking.com as there is no deposit or cancellation fees up to 2 weeks before you travel, and money is tight so it was good to know we could cancel if necessary.

Anyway, it was necessary to cancel (unexpected money had to be spent on essential household/ children's stuff) so I did. Did that last week; I checked and they had sent me an email saying all is fine and I would not be charged.

Got an email today saying that I had not showed up yesterday (the original booking date) so would be charged £840.

It seems I did not get an email to confirm that I changed the dates, but that is definitely what I did; I logged into booking.com went to my bookings and clicked change the dates.

I've lost and ordered a new card since the booking so I think that's why no money went out today. Thank goodness as its rent day today and we wouldn't have had it. What a nightmare!

What do I do? Where do I stand legally? AIBU not to pay it? I definitely can't afford to, and although I should have checked for a confirmation email which I usually always do, Sod's law, I know for a fact I changed the date of my original booking, not made a new one

Well done if you understood any of that, and please don't tell me too many times how stupid I am, my anxiety is going through the roof

[dowhatnow]

Good luck.

[HeckyWithTheGoodBear]

If it only shows once then it is the same booking and it shows as cancelled. Therefore I wouldn't even bother cancelling them by phone, I'd send them a courtesy email stating there has been a mistake and I received an email demanding payment of a booking I have cancelled. "Please see attached email confirming cancellation" and attach their email.

Thank you. I've done this, and sent the screenshot of my booking area. I was getting very anxious about phoning them so I'm hoping it can just be resolved over email.

Was expecting a massive flaming over how stupid I was not to check for email confirmation. Feeling better now thanks to you guys so thanks a lot.

[Dinosaurdrip]

Hi, just out of interest, does the cancelation policy say full payment will be taken? I only ask because i have known a hotel to say they would take full payment when the terms and conditions state only first night would be payable? Clutching straws perhaps?

[Rememberallball]

You say in your op that you made the change a week ago. I think that's the problem here

In the op he says he changed the date to fit in with uni leave a few weeks ago and then he says he cancelled the amended booking a week ago - so before the 15 day pre trip cut off of May 3rd.

I think it sounds as if they've not amended the original booking properly and have charged for that as a no show though they've cancelled your new date as shown by the screenshot. I think the lack of email confirming the initial amendment is where the problem lies. Good luck getting it sorted out.

[Marmalady75]

Surely if it was a whole new booking they would have sent you a confirmation email for that booking. Fo you didn't receive that I don't assume it was Tony the original (then change do) bookin.

[Marmalady75]

Aargh - autocorrect
*If you didn't receive that I would assume it was only the original (then changed) booking.

[justmyview]

In fairness to booking.com, we've booked several times and had no difficulty

Surely an email confirming that a trip on X date had been cancelled with no penalty would include the booking ref number

Maybe OP has booked a holiday, then booked another and only cancelled the second trip, not the first

[Sweettuth]

I think fleur nailed it. There only appears to be one booking of that particular holiday in OP's account and therefore indicative of an internal mistake from booking.com/tripadvisor. Either way not OP's problem.

[Sweettuth]

and the booking shows up as cancelled

[BitOutOfPractice]

God what a nightmare. Hope you get it sorted OP

[AndTakeYourPenguinWithYou]

Right, so no-one tricked you out of anything, and you haven't actually paid anything anyway?
Kinda misleading title, don't you think?

[Rdoo]

I don't understand how tripadvisor is involved? Aren't they and booking.com different sites?

Have used booking.com about a dozen times and never had a problem, well only one hiccup where a hotel said I was double booked, I rang booking.com and it was sorted out in a out 5 minutes (I wasn't double booked apparently, hotel had got something wrong and booking sorted it out them while I held).

And to those talking about booking taking money, they don't the hotel does.

[Queenbean]

Penguin

No need to be thread police snarky, the OP is clearly worried as anyone would be at the prospect of losing £840. Leave it out.

[HeckyWithTheGoodBear]

Right, so no-one tricked you out of anything, and you haven't actually paid anything anyway?
Kinda misleading title, don't you think?

Maybe tricked was the wrong word, but I thought it might go down better than 'fucking scammed'. And they would have took it, if they could. They sent me an email saying they were planning to. Thanks so much for the valuable input though

And tripadvisor and booking.com have joined up, so it seems.

[HeckyWithTheGoodBear]

Thanks Queenbean

[Potatoface2]

so you booked 2 holidays and cancelled both and have been charged for one....opps!

[hefzi]

If it was your debit card you guaranteed the booking with originally (which, from your comments about the rent, I'm guessing it was) they can't take the money from your new card - basically, they may have tried to run your "old" details and CIC code through, but it will have been rejected, as that card has now expired/been cancelled/whatever the deal was with the card being replaced. That money request is attached to those details - there's no way for a merchant to access your current details, or your account, without you providing those: so you are absolutely fine and they can't take the money from your account in any way.

I've honestly never had any problems with booking, and I use them quite often when I don't want to pay in advance on a booking: but it genuinely sounds as though it's an error at their end. The hotel can try to charge you the money if booking decide/claim you're liable - but practically, there's very little they can do to force you to pay it, especially as they're based overseas, so I honestly wouldn't worry about being chased for it etc Turn it over to booking to resolve, stick to your guns, and hopefully, it'll get straightened out without too much more bother

[karalime]

I had a similar email from them but don't panic just yet.

I had booked a few nights at a hostel through them, didn't like the place so left after one night (only paid for the one night in cash).

The next day I got an email saying I hadn't shown up. Nothing came of it but I'm guessing that the hostel pays the site a fee or percentage of the cost of the stay, so to avoid paying for a customer they didn't end up getting, they have to telling booking.com that you didn't show up.

[HeckyWithTheGoodBear]

Thanks hefzi. That's what I was hoping. I'm afraid I immediately rushed into writing a quite emotional email telling them I was really distressed etc wish I had just been more curt and sure of myself like one of you would have been! Ah well, what's done is done and I'm feeling much more reassured now.

[Sweettuth]

Don't worry about being emotional heck, Yanbu to be upset about the idea of losing a considerable amount of money because of a mistake that was not of your doing. They need to sort it out. End of.
I lost my rag with Vodafone last year after they overcharged me for the third month running and ended up actually crying down the phone. It was so infuriating that I had to call every month to correct the bill and wait 20 mins or so to speak to an actual human being each time. I, alongside many others, am convinced that it is a ploy to extract money from customers who eventually give up/can't be bothered/have the means to write it off and forget about it. And eventually I got through to the head of cs at Vodafone, got a month's credit and haven't had a problem with my bill since. It is worth pursuing. Don't let them get away with it.

[AndTakeYourPenguinWithYou]

And they would have took it, if they could. They sent me an email saying they were planning to.

And if me aunt had bollox she'd be me uncle. Nobody took any money from you, so no-one tricked you out of any amount. And it sounds more like you fucked up than they did. Either way, you haven't paid a penny. So IF means nothing.

[Sweettuth]

penguin

[Sweettuth]